Extensible car-stake.



PATENTED OCT. 23, 1906 '"Nogaaau- VRJASAGE.

EXTBNSIBLE GAR STARE.'

-APPLIOATION FILED AUG.27.1908.

NVENTOK. h Sage Ju@ CLM ATT

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` i UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

-atented oct. 23, 1 906.

Application filed August 27, 1906. Serial N0.'332.1l0.

To zr/ZZv whom zit may concerm,

` Be it known that I, RALPH V. SAGE, a citiz'en of the United States, residing in the borough'of Westmont, in the county of Cambria and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Extensible Car-Stakcs; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to makeand use the same. `v

My invention consists of various novel and useful improvements in side stakes for cars,

vwith particular reference to whatl is known as "gondola cars and certain of the objects of lmy invention are to provide an economical and ractical form of extensible stake which will)act both as a side stake for stiftening and strengthening the permanent sides of the car and which also has-an extensible portion that may be projected above the car sides to retain light or bulky lading-such as lumber, bark, structuralV material, or any other kind of goods which extend above the sides of the car.

' One of the particular objects of my invention is to provide a side stake ofthe character described which will be a permanent art of the car andwhich cannot be remove therefrom, thus being always in condition for use when required. This feature of my invention is a particular and important one, for the reason that Vheretofore when a load on a car Was higher than the permanent sides thereof and the lading of Such a nature that it became necessary to confine itlaterally in order to prevent it from falling from the car it was the practice to retain said lading in po- *sition by inserting temporary wooden stakes in the stake-pockets,which latter are'provided on the sides of some cars for that purpose. These temporary stakes extended above the Sides of the car and were generally tied across their tops bynailing boards to the upper ends of the opposite stakes or by securing strands of wire or other flexible material thereto'. These temporary wooden stakes were not furnished with lthe car and were -no permanent part of same, and after their tempoj 'rary use wasfinished they were usually re-y moved during the process of unloading, and as it is not ordinarily known when the car will be again loaded with similar material these temporary stakes were' either thrown away or diverted to 'other uses, thus making -it necessary to go to the trouble and expense of providing new temporary stakes for each Yhigh lading.

Although my invention may be applied to; various kinds of cars, both of wood and metal, I will for the urpose of sim lifying the specification and 1 lustration con e this description'to its application to a metal gondola car.

My invention in general consists .of a hollow stake or envelo of trough-shaped section, with integral. Y an es rojecting therefrom, which may be ma e ofp pressed or rolled metal secured to the car sideV by rivets or bolts'passing through the flan es aforesaid, and I prefer to arrange my ho low stake in such location that the side thereof can be secured to one of the cross-transoms of the car,

thereby tying the framework together and said. This arrangement is also use ul in thatv 1' it puts the stake out of the wa of being battered, bent, or broken l by eing forcibly knocked against other cars or obstructions during the movement ofthe car, this being known to railroad men as, side-swiping.

Inside of the hollow trough-Shaped stake or envelop aforesaid I arrange an extensionstake com osed of anvI-beam'or similar secj tion, whic 'latter can be adjusted to any height desired within its limits, said exten* sion portion being provided with means to prevent its loss vby ne lect, accident, or theft. When not in use, t e extension portion of my stake 'is lowered within the envelop vand itsto ispreferably below o'r Vflush with the top o the car side, thus reventing obstruction withthe Ordinarv 'la in or injury to the extension-stake itse' 4,as'wil be readily understood IOO My exterior stakeof trough-shaped seci tion serves 'a double. urpose, 1n that it stiffens and maintains t e vcar-side 'in .position and at the same time retains the extension portion both in its lowered andin its extended locations. v f

The to" of 4the extension stake is rnished with:` a cleat or rounded button, around the shank of vrope orl portion. @f fmy- IIO wire may be wound, extending from one stake to its companion stake on the opposite side of the car to assist in holding same and the lading in position, and said button also serves as a convenient handheld for pulling said stakev upward when required.

. Having thus-given a general description of my invention, I will now, in 'order to make the matter more clear, refer to the annexed sheet of drawings, which forms part of this specification and in which like letters and characters refer to like parts.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a metal gondola c'ar, showing the sides of the car, the underframing, and my stake arranged at intervals along the inside of the car sides. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional. elevation taken on a plane indicated by the line II II of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional elevation, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line III III of Figs. 2 and 4, showing the lower part of the envelop and the extension-stake and the preferred manner of arranging and connecting same with. relation to the car side and underframing. Fig. 4 is a partial sectional plan taken on the line IV IV of Fig. 3, showing the envelop portion and the extension-stake in section and the manner in which the envelop portion is secured to the car side and the car-underframing. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional elevation, on an enlarged scale, somewhat similar to Fig. 3, but showing an alternative form of the lower portion of the envelop and the manner of connecting same to the car side and the underraming, in this case the lower portion of one of the projecting ianges of the envelop being cut away, as shown. The arrangement of my stake shown in Fig. 5 is particularly applicable to old cars, as

'my stake can be attached to same, as shown,

without disturbing the connection of the existing transom to the car side. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal vertical sectional elevation, taken on the .line VI VI of Fig. 2, showing the upper portion of my trough-shaped stake or envelop and the lower part of the extension-stake mounted therein when the latter is in its closed position. This iigure also shows the arrangement 'oi the means for maintaining tle extensible stake at the various heights, which in this case consists of a bolt passing through registering holes in the envelop and the extension portion of the stake. Fig. 6 also shows a stop for limiting the upward movement of the extension portion of the stake, thereby preventing its entire withdrawal, as hereinbefore referred to.

Referring now to the various characters of reference on the drawings, 1 is the exterior portion or the envelop of my car-stake, to which is secured the car side 15 by means of' the rivets 13 and 14 passing through said car side and holes 7 in the flanges 3 of the envelop portion.

S is the extension portion oi my stake. which is shown as of I-beam section. inserted within the envelop and capable of being moved down so as to be practically inclosed therein or to be extended to aconsiderable i* eight above the top oi' said envelop, as desired. l

The sides 2 2 of the end portion are provided with holes 6 6, and the extension portion oi' the stake is provided with similar holes 9 9, which may be caused to register with. the aforesaid holes 6 6, and the extension-stake S may be secured in diilerent positions by inserting the bolt 4 in theregistering holes aforesaid, said bolt being temporarily secured in position by means of the cutter 5.

1() is a lug or ilat piece of metal secured to the lower portion of' the extension-stake to serve as a stop to prevent the complete withdrawal of same, and to assist in this a T- shaped iece of metal 11 is secured to the interior o the envelop, as shown. Upon drawing the extension-stake up to its full height the projection 10 abuts against the inwardlyextending portion of the T-shaped bar 1.1, which thus stops the extension-stake from being entirely Withdrawn, thereby preventing its loss through carelessness or otherwise.

Owing to this construction the stake is always ready i'or use and. the expense and delay connected with supplying temporary stakes of wood is eliminated.

On the top of' my extension-stake 8 I secure a button 12, provided. with rounded shank, as shown,A which when the stake is in its extended position serves for the attachment of' wire, rope, or other ilexible material extending 'from one stake to its companion stake on the opposite side of the car to help in retaining the lading. The rounded top of the button 12 also serves as a convenient handle by which to pull the stake upward when required.

TWire is indicated at 17 in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The spacing of the holes 6 in the envelop and the holes 9 in the extension-stake is so arranged that the extension portion may be adjusted in height, beginning at one-inch intervals and continuing thereafter at two-inch intervals until the extension )ortion is withdrawn as far as the stop will permit. The button 12 of the extension-stake is provided with a flange 18, projecting from its lower portion, which holds the stake in its lowered position by resting on the upper surface ol' the T-shaped bar 11 when said extensionstake is in its lowest location.

16 represents the cross-transom of a car, which in this case is shown as of channelsection extending from the center sill to the car side and attached to both of these parts, the attachment to the car side being shown as rivets 14, which also pass through the ex- IOO IlO

tending flange of the envelop, as shown in Figs 1, 2, and 4.

19 indicates a hole or openingin the carfloor to permit my stake to pass through same. v

, 20 is the car-floor secured to the crosstransom as shown, and it is also secured to the car side by means of its upturned flange 22.

It should be especially noted that the trough-shaped envelop with its projecting flanges and theI-beam extension portion are both particularly well adapted to serve the purposes intended in an economical and eflicient manner, and I have found by actual design that a stake of this kind can'belmade of yless size than. a continuous wooden stake to serve the same purpose. This permits me to apply my stake to the outside of cars without exceedingy the allowable limits of the side clearance prescribed by the different railroads, and thus make-a wider car ofv greater .capacity than if wooden stakes are used. My improved stake also has the advantage that it is always'ready for use when re uired, thusv obviatin the expense and delay of supplying an fitting temporary stakes for high lading. 1 l

Although I have shown, illustrated, and described my improved stake as attachedE to the' inside of a metal gondola car, I wish it understood that it is equally applicable to the outside of such a car', theonly change necessary for this being to turn the top-flange angle at'the top side inward, so as not to interfere with'the extension-stake7 or said topflange angle may' be cut away at or bent around said stake, and I wishA it understood that my stake is equally applicable to other cars; but the changes needed for this will be obvious to those skilled in this art. I

make the exterior portion or envelop of my carstake of' trough-shaped section open on one side, as this is a particularly-strong form and one that is capable of being rolled of iron or steel or pressed Lfrom a single plate or sheet of metal. l

Although I have shown and described my Aimprovements in considerable detail, I do not wish to be limited to the eXact and specific .details shown and described, but may use such substitutions, modifications,` ory equivalents'thereof as are embraced within the scope of my invention or as'pointed out in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire-to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a metal car of a car-stake comprising a trough-shaped section with integral side flanges projecting therefrom, means for securing same to the car side through the flanges aforesaid, an adjustable metallic stake mounted within the opening of the trough-shaped stake aforesaid and means for securing said adjustable stake in various positions as desired.

2. The combination with a metal car of a I car-stake comprising a trough-shaped section with integral side flanges projecting therefrom, means for securing said troughshaped section to the car side through the flanges aforesaid, said trough-shaped section being also secured through one of its sides to the car-transom, an adjustable metallic stake mounted within the opening of the trough-shaped stake aforesaid and means for securing said adjustable-stake in various positions as desired.

. 3. The combination with a metal car of a car-stake comprisinga trough-shaped section,

rthrough the said flanges, said car-stake eX- tending downwardly through an opening in the car-floor and being attached through one of its sides to the side of the adjoining cartransom, an adjustable metallic stake mounted withinthe opening of the trough-shaped stake aforesaid and means for'y securing said adjustable stake in various positions asl desired. Y

4. The combination with a metal carof a car-stake comprisin a trough-shaped section with integral side anges projecting therefrom, means for securing said trough-shaped section to the car side through the flanges aforesaid, said trough-shaped sectionr being also secured through one of its sides to the car-transoms, an adjustable metallic stake mounted within the opening of the troughshaped stake aforesaid, means for securing said adjustable stake in various positions as desired, and means for preventing the withdrawal of said adjustable stake from its eX- treme upward and downward positions. In testimony whereof I hereto aHiX my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.r RALPH V. SAGE. Witnesses:

CYRUs E: BROWN, ELMER SEAVEY.

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